How Shadows Turn to Ash

Chapter 20: Antonia

The sign of the Occult was a golden eye with black rays spiraling out of it. Antonia saw it stamped everywhere as she entered the spaces between makeshift tents. Despite being primarily nomadic, the Occult was known as a well-off organization. They had several branches across the world, with a secret base somewhere in the Nameless Lands.

Antonia could see the depth of that wealth now, even as a swarm of children raced by her, all dressed in clothes that wouldn't have looked too out of place at the palace.

"How many of you are there?" Antonia asked, spinning around. The woman who had led her inside the pop-up village glanced over her shoulder and smiled. She paused by one of the tents, removing her shoes and stepping onto a woven rug toward a bubbling cauldron. Antonia hesitated and followed suit, taking off her shoes and letting her feet sink into the fine wool as she ducked inside.

"About forty," the woman answered, pushing up her sleeves as she approached the cauldron. A green liquid was sploshing around, thin lines of white sizzling through the air. "I never got your name, by the way. I'm Cretara." She smiled and held out her hand. Antonia hesitated before taking it. Cretara looked about ten years older than Antonia, her hair coiled into black, textured curls and dark skin.

"Anotnia," she answered and used the handshake to turn Cretara's palm up, studying the colors smeared over her hands.

"Air and earth magic combined into one form," Cretara said before Antonia could ask.

"You just mix them?"

Cretara made a high-pitched 'eh' sound before shaking her head. She gestured Antonia closer to the cauldron. "Not quite. Mixing magic is a science. See?" She pointed to the liquid in the pot. "This is earth magic melted down."

"You can't melt magic."

"I can, and I did," Cretara grinned. "It's dangerous, though. You have to be careful." She grabbed a long stick before dropping it in the cauldron, stirring slowly. "Once this is ready, I want to try and mix it with some melted water magic."

Antonia leaned over the liquid. Magic didn't tend to smell like anything, but with the heat bubbling up, she could have sworn she caught the scent of forests and drying clay.

"And then what? You can use earth and water magic at once?"

"If you're using expensive magic, yeah," Cretara said, wiping her brow before stirring again. "If it's cheap, it'll start giving you weird side effects." That sounded...concerning. Antonia glanced at Cretera over the bubbling pot, brows raised.

Cretara's lips twitched. "The last time I tried this, I ended up sucking the moisture out of any piece of earth I touched."

Antonia cringed at that. Cretara lifted her hand, summoning a light breeze to cool off the cauldron as she stirred some more. Biting her lip, Antonia put her hands behind her back. Her hands had no sign of magic, but sometimes, she felt as though people could still see it. It always felt present to her. The blackness swirled uncomfortably through her veins.

"How long have you been here?" she asked. Cretara pulled out the stick and carefully placed it on a blanket beside her so the magic began dripping off.

"My whole life," Cretara shrugged. "My parents were Cambrian, so when the Htraehean prophecy was given, we needed to find someplace to go."

From outside, there was a popping noise. Antonia jumped, spinning around to see a flash of light outside. Cretara didn't seem bothered, so she turned back to her, torn between confusion and curiosity.

Cambria was a vast empire out East. It was made up of ten countries? Twelve? It was an unusual empire in that it didn't take any of the countries belonging to it by force. By joining the empire, you were under the Chosen Family's protection. The family Octavia had wanted Antonia to find.